Economic Development Board

COCONUT CREEK -- The City Commission, Parks and Recreation Board, and the Economic Development Board are scheduled to conduct regular meetings within the next two weeks. The City Commission will have a workshop meeting in the government center at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The public is invited to attend. The Parks and Recreation Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. in the government center on Wednesday. The Economic Development Board is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on June 23 in the government center.

The way Adrian Catarzi sees it, small businesses are the lifeblood of the nation -- and he thinks it's especially true in Pembroke Pines, where many new small businesses open each month. That's why Catarzi, the city's economic development coordinator, said he thinks it's important to help those businesses stay afloat. Catarzi and the members of the city's Economic Development Board hope to do that through PowerBusinessWeek, an event scheduled for Monday through May 15. The event will showcase and celebrate businesses and business people in the city, while offering networking, educational and business opportunities.

The City Council has appointed two residents to city boards. Philip Levy, named to the Planning and Zoning Board, is a 13-year resident of North Lauderdale. He works as a sales representative for a plastics business. Paul Booher, a data communications manager who was appointed to the Economic Development Board, is a 10-year North Lauderdale resident. The Planning and Zoning Board makes recommendations to the City Council on proposed construction projects. The Economic Development Board focuses on methods for boosting business and economic conditions.

Just about every workday for the past few weeks, Adrian Catarzi has been mailing out a couple dozen compact discs containing information about the city. As the city's economic development coordinator, Catarzi created the CD with guidance from the city's Economic Development Board and city commissioners. The compact disc is designed to give basic demographic information about the city and its amenities to companies seeking to expand or move to Pembroke Pines. Catarzi estimated that during the past few weeks, he has mailed as many as 500 CDs nationwide to wholesale companies and distributors that Pembroke Pines officials hope will move to one of the commerce parks near the western edge of the city.

CORAL SPRINGS -- The City Commission has named 23 people to its Economic Development Elements Task Force. The group will study future commercial and industrial development in an effort to broaden the heavily residential character of the city. Five subcommittees will study the following subjects: -- Finance and development. -- Sports and special events. -- Health care and biotechnology. -- Manufacturing and technology. -- Retail and service industries. The task force`s program will include a series of workshops organized by GA/ Partners, a consultant in urban planning.

Broward County`s legislators will get a thank you for their efforts at an appreciation event on Monday. "Legislative Appreciation `88" is sponsored by the County Commission, School Board, League of Cities and Economic Development Board. The event, at 5 p.m. at the Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, will consist of speeches and entertainment. The public is invited.

Some of Broward`s top business executives formed a private committee on Wednesday, intending to take control of attracting new business to the county. The non-profit Broward Committee of 100 Inc., officially breaking away from the publicly funded Broward Economic Development Board, plans to become more competitive with areas like Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. Working privately, the Committee of 100 will draw on local business executives to promote Broward to corporations looking to relocate, said Co- Chairman Bernard Budd, executive vice president of Hollywood Inc. "A private corporation in a competitive marketplace works better than government," Budd said.

What do you call a magazine about business in Broward? Try Business in Broward. The Broward Economic Development Board has launched a glossy quarterly publication to promote business outside Broward County and keep its members informed in the county. The magazine sells for $4 on newsstands and the board circulates about 10,000 copies of its own. The first issue features articles on a failed scheme for downtown redevelopment, products made in Broward County, and a Federal Express regional center that opened in the county last year.

In an effort to facilitate filmmaking in the city and throughout Broward County, the City Commission is scheduled to consider a resolution tonight that would allow the Broward Economic Development Board to issue a filmmaker a permit to shoot in the city. So far, the cities of Dania and Tamarac have approved resolutions allowing the board to issue permits to filmmakers on their behalf, said Linda Lenzen, client representative for the Motion Picture and Television Office, part of the Economic Development Board.

HOLLYWOOD -- Residents interested in city government may soon get the chance to apply for two new city boards, one devoted to economic development, the other to annexation. The purpose of the annexation board is to entice residents of nearby unincorporated neighborhoods into joining Hollywood. Most city commissioners want to expand north to the I-595 expressway. The purpose of the economic development board is less clear, although most commissioners envision a board that will attract businesses and industry to the city.

Assistant Deputy Mayor Joseph Scuotto doesn't see anything out of the ordinary with having two brothers on city advisory boards and a sister active in the Sunrise Democratic Club. Commissioner Irwin Harlem appointed his brothers Pat Scuotto to the Leisure Services Advisory Board and Michael Scuotto to the Economic Development Board last month. They were two of 38 appointees to six Sunrise advisory boards last month. Board members sit for one year. They receive $50 per month for expenses.

-- When it comes to attracting large businesses, the City Commission does not want Miramar to come in second to any other municipality. In a move to stay competitive, commissioners this month unanimously gave preliminary approval to an amendment that would change the composition of the city's Economic Development Board, which offers advice to the commission on strategies to lure large companies. Within the last year, companies such as WTVJ-Ch. 6 and Southern Wine and Spirits, a wine import company, have chosen Miramar as their new home.

Even though the city has lured several large businesses, City Commissioner Kevin Fernander wants to turn Miramar's Economic Development Board into a private agency that does not have to operate under Florida's Sunshine Law. The board, which promotes the city to businesses interested in relocating, also advises the City Commission on strategy -- and Fernander wants the board to have more decision-making power in the process. Other than making recommendations, the board has little power because the city's staff works out actual deals with approval from the commission.

Seeking to debunk the stereotype that western Broward County schools are superior to those in Fort Lauderdale, the city's Education Advisory Board will present a report of its research on the issue to city commissioners during a workshop meeting on Tuesday. The report briefly examines the perception and its impact on the future development needs of the city, as associated with Fort Lauderdale schools. John Wilkes, the education board's president, submitted the report, which came out of a March 25 meeting between the education board and the city Economic Development Board.

Attracting clean industry, encouraging existing businesses to expand and redeveloping parts of the city. Community leaders recently established these and others as goals for the newly expanded Economic Development Board, made up of volunteers who live and work in the city. A few months ago, city commissioners approved a suggestion by Commissioner Susan Katz to increase the board from seven to 11 members and set aside $100,000 in the budget for economic development. In addition, the city paid $25,000 to join the Broward Alliance, the county's economic development arm. During a brain-storming session on March 16, board members exchanged ideas with commissioners about how to market the city's remaining vacant 500 to 800 acres.

The city has taken another step in City Commissioner Sue Katz's campaign to hold down residential taxes by attracting more light industry. At meetings last week, the City Commission appointed members to a newly expanded Economic Development Board, agreed to hire professional advisers. and made plans to conduct another community forum to set goals. "It's a beginning," said Katz, who last year coaxed the commission into spending $25,000 to join the Broward Alliance, which recruits industry countywide, and also to set aside another $100,000 for city economic development programs.

HOLLYWOOD -- Residents interested in city government may soon get the chance to apply for two new city boards, one devoted to economic development, the other to annexation. The purpose of the annexation board is to entice residents of nearby unincorporated neighborhoods into joining Hollywood. Most city commissioners want to expand north to the I-595 expressway. The purpose of the economic development board is less clear, although most commissioners envision a board that will attract businesses and industry to the city.

In a move designed to shore up "disjointed" economic development efforts throughout the county, Broward County Commissioner Ed Kennedy is touting a plan that would place dozens of private and public planning agencies under the county Economic Development Board. The proposal, expected to generate controversy over how the expanded Economic Development Board would coordinate short-term and long-term planning, deviates sharply from what county officials have been publicly endorsing for two months.

Sunrise and Miramar, watch out. Pembroke Pines on Wednesday created an 11-member Economic Development Board whose job will include attracting clean industry, even if it means battling other cities to get them. The board will help implement the aggressive new economic development policy adopted by the City Commission in September. That policy puts Pembroke Pines in competition with other municipalities for clean industry to help ease the property tax burden on homeowners. Although Pembroke Pines has sought and won industry in the past, it has not been as aggressive as neighboring cities that offer tax breaks and other financial incentives.

WESTON An old plan to extend Saddle Club Road west to U.S. 27 is officially dead. The Broward County Planning Council on Thursday removed a one-mile western extension of the road from its trafficways plan, the blueprint used for planning future roads. Years ago, planners expected to extend Saddle Club Road west from South Post Road, where it ends now. The six-lane road extension would have handled 2,400 cars a day traveling between Weston's residential communities and U.S. 27. But because of environmental concerns, Weston has had to drop 30-year-old plans to build homes in the western part of the city.